In 1958, Rev. Dr. R.R. Wilkinson was called to Roanoke, Virginia where he pastored at Hill Street Baptist Church for thirty-three years. As President of the Roanoke NAACP Chapter during the Civil Rights Movement from 1959 to 1968 he became the instrument for change. In 1960, under his leadership, he would challenge segregation laws by leading a secret Biracial Committee to initiate integration in Roanoke, Virginia; strategically fighting to integrate white only Lunch counters, Department stores, Schools, Victory Stadium, Theaters, Roanoke Fire Department, Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and Lakeside Amusement Park. In 1963, he defended black neighborhoods as he tirelessly fought an all-white Roanoke City Council to close Washington Park Dump so it could be moved out of the African American community. He also fought against job discrimination in Roanoke's Department Stores, Public Schools, Local Government, Police Department, Fire Department, and Sanitation Department keeping pressure on white store merchants to hire black citizens for employment and promotion. In 1968, he served as President of the Baptist Pastors Conference of Roanoke, Salem, and Vinton, Virginia and served as the third African American President of the Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference in 1978. In 1980, he battled Urban Renewal Development as they tore down black neighborhoods including his church. He kept pressure on the Mayor and City Council to rebuild his new church and keep it in the Gainsboro neighborhood where his original Hill Street Baptist church once stood.